Hi Susan

You still have it right, Randy was only saying the electric motor is assisting the engine while it's running right after start-up. The FEH is very complicated, but watch the Charge/Assist needle move to assist like it is only running in EV. The engine is also running till it gets to a warm-up condition and the FEH can go total EV.

Trust me, Randy has always given the best opinions.

GaryG

 

The ICE is still running during initial warmup. Some (all?) propulsion is being made by the electric motors. Next time you start your vehicle when it is cold, watch the tach and listen to the ICE as you first get moving.....the tach stays pretty constant and you can hear the load on the engine isn't really changing.

I noticed this right after I bought my '05. When I would start up and back out of the driveway, shift to D (or L usually), the tach never budged but the charge/assist would go well into assist showing the electric motors doing the work. This is ideal in cold weather - the generator is putting enough load on the ICE to warm it up while you drive away.

Obviously if you leave the driveway with your accelerator foot on the floor then you are putting a big load on the engine - just drive away gently and you'll be fine.

BTW, I have driven mine in sub-zero weather and never had a problem.

 

Ok, makes sense now. I only have about 250 miles on mine. I have been watching the charge/assist needle and it doesn't seen to move very much. Kinda stays in the middle most of the time even when in EV. But then I only drive 4 miles to work and hardly get up to 40. I also noticed when I first start, the tach needle goes right up over the 1 mark till it gets warmed up. I guess this is normal. Never had a vehicle with a tach before so am learning to watch all kinds of needles now.

 

Hey Ray

The point that Randy brought up has been something I've watched and still don't fully understand. The assist is also there on a warm engine restart. Every time I drive to downtown WPB (20 miles) to drop things off, when I get back in and start-up, I still get heavy assist for a block or two. Now, if I'm in and out in say only 5 min, I go EV in 30 seconds, but there still heavy assist for that 30 seconds. Randy makes a good point about oil circulation. Maybe there is a timer that when the oil drains down for so long before a restart, the assist last longer. Thoughts?

GaryG

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryG

Hey Ray

The point that Randy brought up has been something I've watched and still don't fully understand. The assist is also there on a warm engine restart. Every time I drive to downtown WPB (20 miles) to drop things off, when I get back in and start-up, I still get heavy assist for a block or two. Now, if I'm in and out in say only 5 min, I go EV in 30 seconds, but there still heavy assist for that 30 seconds. Randy makes a good point about oil circulation. Maybe there is a timer that when the oil drains down for so long before a restart, the assist last longer. Thoughts?

GaryG

Hi Gary -

I have the same thing happening here - I think the answer is to the booting up of the PCM, which from reading other post, takes about 30 seconds, before the true HyBrid function really kicks in.

I have watched my 'Energy Flow' screen and the 'Instant MPG' bar during this 30 second period and on a 'New' start, doesn’t matter if it is from overnight or a 2 second cut off, the MPGs increase in correlation with your speed, therefore during this boot cycle I try and get up to speed as quickly as possible, then the PCM takes over and 'Bam' the Instant MPG drops like a rock.

You can tell when the PCM takes over the engagement of the Generator/Traction Motors from the ICE and the instant MPG drops off because the energy from the ICE is now being transferred to Regen and not Propulsion. Kind of like having a high SoC – no drain on the ICE for Regen.

This could be part of the answer to why the ‘06’s get a little better MPG – the PCM is not requesting that heavy drain of power from the ICE – that explains why the Regen is not so pronounced say with an FS in ‘L’.

Just a thought – could be on a completely wrong track but that is my take on the situation - if wrong please correct me .

 

I agree with the past few posts, and have noticed this behavior also in mine over the past 18 months.

There is a 30 second "boot-up" and "self-check" that the car goes through any time it is restarted. You can never have an ICE shut down in less than 30 seconds, but also, most of your propulsion comes from the electric motor during these 30 seconds. I too have become accustomed to accelerating ASAP after start-up ( IE put the sunglasses on, and fasten seat-belt BEFORE turning the key ) so I can take advantage of this essentially 30 seconds of EV driving, even on a cold engine, in sub-zero weather.

Also, you can have effectivly EV driving at ANY speed.
I've accelerated many a time from 65-75 MPH under strictly EV power... yes, the engine was turning, but not taking additional gas during these times. ( 200 MPG+ on SG )

( not sure this is the correct thread for this topic, but it got started here... )

-John

 

Due to the forced engine restart, whenever possible I just leave the vehicle turned on with the keys inside. I've got tinted windows and I lock all the doors (I have the keyless entry pad - I wouldn't recommend this if you don't!). That way, when I just have to run in and pick up my son from daycare I don't have to waste fuel on the restart. You'd be surprised how much difference this can make. Of course, if you take too long and your battery has a low charge you risk the engine turning itself on while you are inside....and that is not so good for fuel economy.